Maria Hill

Maria Hill was not only an excellent agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, but she was a Commander, hell she even became the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D in the comics.

It would not be a stretch to say that she had the most influence in S.H.I.E.L.D after Alexander Pierce and Nick Fury.

So in theory, using her Level 9 Security Clearance to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D's internal servers was also something he could try.

"Well look who decided to show up!" Said Tony as he went up to Charles and at this, everyone's attention was on Charles.

The time, as if stopped for a moment and resumed the next second.

"Nice to see you too, Tony" Said Charles as they both hugged each other.

"Man your next novel better be something great or I will whoop your ass."

"I'll try not to disappoint, my friend."

Pepper immediately came to Charles and gave him a hug! She had missed him immensely, but to not make anyone suspicious, it was just a platonic, friendly hug.

"Greetings, Pepper." said Charles while coming out of the hug.

Right at this moment, Natasha also came to greet Charles, as they knew each other from Tony's other parties when she was working undercover at Stark Industries.

"How have you been, Miss Natasha?"

"What can I say, Tony and Nick are both slave drivers. Your books have kept me sane."

Charles smiled at her compliment and looked at Nick who had also arrived to greet him.

"Hello Mr. Magnussen, I believe we are yet to be introduced. I am Nick Fury, the Director of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"It's a pleasure to have finally made your acquaintance, Director Fury."

"Please, drop the honorifics. And what do you mean by 'finally' meeting me? Did you know about me?"

Nick looked at Tony because only Tony could've told Charles about him in his opinion.

Charles on the other hand didn't directly reply to Fury, and first properly greeted Phil Coulson with a handshake, and then finally looked at Maria Hill who had also arrived to greet him.

"Charles, Charles Augustus Magnussen" Said Charles while extending his hand towards Maria.

Maria also met his hand with a smile

"Agent Maria Hill, Deputy Director of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division"

"Charmed, My Lady." replied Charles as he lightly kissed the back of her hand while doing a proper 45-degree bow, according to the Royal British social etiquettes and customs.

"You're pretty charming, Mr. Magnussen." said Maria Hill as she retreated her hand.

"I try. Please call me Charles or Augustus."

It was as clear as glass that Charles was flirting with Maria.

Tony was happy for his friend as Charles never actively engaged in a relationship or a one-night stand.

Natasha felt a little jealous since she had never been greeted by Charles in this manner, and Pepper didn't know what to feel.

Phil and Nick were standing there awkwardly, still waiting for Charles's reply to Nick's question.

"Nick, I am sorry but I'll have to keep you waiting for my answer as I have just come out of my seclusion and would like to talk with my friends and know what is happening in their lives."

Charles was talking about Tony and Pepper of course and Nick Fury could only sigh and wait.

"Madam Hill, would you like to accompany me?"

As soon as Charles asked this, Fury had a glint in his eyes.

That's right. Although Maria was not a field agent, she still could find out some valuable information from Charles about what he knows about S.H.I.E.L.D and how he knows that.

Maria on the other hand smiled coyly and linked her arms with Charles

"I'd love to, Augustus. And please call me Maria."

"Perfect" replied Charles as he went with Tony and Pepper to a private table.

Tony and Pepper had a lot to talk about with Charles and, especially Tony, who was fascinated by Charles's idea of making an armor out of Nanobots.

Charles also talked about his upcoming Novel Twilight, which will be revealed in a month and would hit the bookstores soon after.

"I request a signed copy, Augustus." Said Maria as she immediately got interested in the plot.

"Of course Maria, After all, won't you be with me at the Launch party?" replied Charles as he put his hand at her lower back.

It wasn't a rude gesture, as he avoided any vulgar grab. But Maria clearly understood what he was expecting.

She had to be a complete moron to not understand what Charles was suggesting and she also put her hand on his shoulder, gave him a cheek-kiss, and excused herself.

"I'm sorry, I'll have to leave now. I had a great time, Augustus."

Nodding towards Pepper and Tony, Maria went back to Nick, Coulson, and Natasha after which they started leaving.

Maria knew that she didn't want to start a relationship now. She wanted to focus on her career and she also knew that she can't have a relationship with someone like Augustus, who was just a simple Author.

Her work life could endanger him and she would also not use her body to get any sort of information from him. She was a Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, not some Agent on contract. They had agents like Natasha for such intel gathering.

"Maria!"

As they were leaving, they heard Augustus call out Maria's name which halted their footsteps.

"Leaving so soon? Don't you want to know how I know Nick Fury?"

Before Nick or Maria had the chance to say anything, Charles looked at Nick and said

"Let's talk in private."

Understanding what Charles meant, Fury decisively asked Natasha, Maria, and Phil to wait for him while he and Charles started walking.

"So. As you already know, before I started writing, I was a Private Investigator. The one with a lot of connections."

Said Charles as they arrived at a relatively secluded corner.

"Yes, I know. But I don't remember having any relationship with the wives of the people you used to work for."

Fury's reply was simple. He knew that Charles mostly took these sorts of cases because they offered good money.

"That is correct, Nick. But what is also correct is that I am damn good at what I do."

"And what is it that you do, Charles? I mean, Apart from writing, that is?"

To this question, Charles smiled a little and took out a thumb-drive from his Suit's inner pocket.

"I suggest you see what's in it in private and in a computer which is not directly connected to your S.H.I.E.L.D's servers. Otherwise you, my friend, will be in a pickle. Goodbye"

Leaving Nick Fury with a pendrive, Charles turned around and left.

Natasha and Phil stared at the Pendrive in Nick's hand in confusion, while Maria stared at Charles with confusion.

Charles went straight towards Pepper, who wanted to introduce some people to Charles and he too happily greeted them.

Back to Nick, He went back towards Maria and the rest after which Phil asked

"What's in it, Sir?"

Nick didn't answer Phil's question as even he didn't know it and directly went towards his SUV, while the rest followed suit.

The Party went on till 2 AM in the morning after which Tony took Charles to his lab.

"Come here, I have something to show you."

Inside the lab, Tony took Charles at the center and pressed a button, after which the floor around them started to descend and soon Tony Stark's Hall of Armor was revealed in all its glory.

There were around 20 Iron Man suits here and everyone was slightly different than the other.

Originally, Tony didn't make this many suits until after the War with Chitauri forces but looking at Thor's battle a few months back, Tony became aware of the threats coming from outside the planet and started innovating more and more Iron Man Armors.

In the middle of it, there was a huge Armor that looked like the Hulk Buster but it didn't have most of its Arc Reactors installed.

"See, How is this! This Armor can definitely pick Thor's hammer, as well as stop Hulk!"

"What's Hulk?" asked Charles in confusion

"Oh yeah, you don't know. He is a doctor who became a Green Giant after experimenting with his body. We are trying to recruit him in the Avengers Initiative."

"Avengers? I think I have heard that name before."

"Yes. Avengers is a group of powerful people who can respond to situations which threatens the world."

"Wow. That's great. So did you also researched if you can make an arc reactor out of Nanobots?"

"No Charles. I mean I can make Nanobots, but to power them, I need a better Arc Reactor. I don't know what to use, yet."

"Tell you something. Some time ago, I heard something about a hidden Nation called Wakanda.

I heard they have a rare metal that has a very weird reaction to Energy.

I can't say for certain but I think that could help you. Ask Fury, He might be able to tell you something about Wakanda."

Charles guided Tony towards Wakanda because he himself can't do everything. Letting Tony invent Bleeding Edge Armor while he eats the fruit of Tony's labor was more convenient. I mean, he had other stuff to do as well.

It was early in the morning when Charles exited the Stark Estate and went back to the Appledore.

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In a black Armored SUV in front of Fury's house, Fury opened a laptop and inserted the pendrive given to him by Charles.

The longer he watched what was on the pendrive, the more his eye started to widen.

"Oh….My God…" He said as the screen showed Alexander Pierce's image while the title read "One of the Leaders of HYDRA".

Charles knew that Fury was seeing the list of known Hydra members in the pendrive as VERONICA was already inside of Fury's laptop.

Suddenly, Fury's phone started to ring and as soon as he picked up the call, Charles's voice came

"So how did you like my gift, Fury?"

"How do you know so much? And do you have any conclusive evidence for these accusations?" Asked Fury with a careful voice.

"I believe that it is your job to find the evidence. And for how I know this much, Let's just say that when I am curious about someone, I dig every last thing about them."

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want this world to be a better place, Fury. I don't want anything else."

Charles cut the call after that. It was important to get Nick Fury under his confidence, and after making him doubt so many members of S.H.I.E.L.D, Fury really was feeling friendless.

'I can trust no one' Fury thought.

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Maria Hill was sitting in the S.H.I.E.L.D's New york headquarter and was thinking about Charles.

She thought that their worlds were different and didn't want to drag Charles into her dangerous life.

Also, it had been so long since she tried dating because she wanted to give all her time to her career but now, after she politely rejected Charles's proposal, she felt a little regretful.

'Should I try it? And what did he give to Nick in the thumb-drive?'

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Back in the Appledore

"Sir, I have found Dr. Henry Hank Pym" Said VERONICA as she displayed the entire history of Hank Pym, his career with S.H.I.E.L.D, his wife, his daughter, his research subject, his research papers. Everything.

"Hmm….Hank Pym is different. Winning his trust is not easy since he has already tasted betrayal, and nor I have any time for him because his usefulness is only limited to his research on Quantum Realm, which I already have, and the Pym particles, which I will soon get.

Do one thing VERONICA. Tell me about his Daughter's schedule?"

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Hank had just woken up and was feeling a little light-headed. Last night he was working late on his Ant-Man suit.

'My age is catching up to me. I should probably find an apprentice' He thought.

Hank had never even considered teaching her daughter about the operations of the Ant-Man suit, because he was just that protective. He didn't want to throw her daughter in this mess as well because he had already lost his wife due to this suit.

His absolute denial towards his daughter's use of the Ant-Man suit had caused a fight between them last night.

'Again!' he thought.

Hank went to get the newspaper from his garden when suddenly he saw a package left at his doorsteps.

Looking around to see who left it, he found no one on the street and so, he took the package inside and put it on the dining table while he went to prepare himself a tea.

After a little while, he brought the Tea to the dining table and sat there while sipping his morning tea.

"Let's see"

Keeping the cup to the side, Hank dragged the package near, and started to open it.

As soon as he removed the box cover, he became petrified.

Inside of the box, there was an index finger lying with a sticky note attached to it.

The sticky note read

"Every hour from now, I will send you 100 grams of random body parts."

With incredibly shaky hands, he picked up the sticky note and turned it around to see

"Prepare Pym particles asap. Put them in this package and put it outside of your house."

Hank instantly stood up and rushed to his daughter's room. Others might not recognize it, but how can he not recognize his own daughter's finger?

As soon as Hank pushed open his daughter's room, his fears came true.

His daughter was missing!

Suddenly, his doorbell rang and he rushed to his front door and opened it, only to notice another such box.

There were tears in his eyes as he was not able to bring himself to open the box. If only he had checked the box earlier without wasting time on tea, he thought.

Still, he steeled himself and opened it to find a chunk of inner thighs with another sticky note attached saying

"The more time you take, the more creative I will get."

Hank Pym didn't know what to do. He wanted to just put on his suit and wait for that person to come again so he could follow him and catch him, but he couldn't just wait here for the kidnapper to send him another body part of her daughter!

Hank went to his secret lab, and immediately got the Pym Particles in a small tube, but what he failed to notice, was that there was a shadow descending the stairs of his secret lab.